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Monday, 15 February 2010

Why vote Green? Part Three...

Greens work for strong local economies, keeping wealth circulating within communities, creating secure and stable jobs locally. This promotes wellbeing, self-reliance and sustainability eg through greater local production, improved energy and food security. We believe small is beautiful and actively support small, locally owned businesses, local exchange and trading schemes and credit unions. Our approach is in stark contrast to that of the big three parties, whose focus is the global not local economy – and that results in situations like the global banking crisis and the Kraft takeover of Cadbury’s with the loss of many local jobs.

The Green plan for rebuilding the economy - the Green New Deal – is a £45 billion investment to create 1 million jobs. It will begin to build the kind of economy and society I’ve described by: redesigning the financial system so that it serves the ‘real' economy and local communities, breaking up the big banks so they are no longer ‘too big to fail', massively clamping down on tax avoidance, generating £10 billion in revenue; investing massively in renewable energy - raising wind energy production to the same level as Denmark by 2020 would alone create 200,000 jobs; investing massively in energy efficiency measures for UK homes, schools and hospitals, creating 80,000 jobs, reducing harmful emissions and cutting fuel bills; investing in public transport and in waste management; creating more affordable housing for rent; introducing green workforce training; providing decent pensions and free social care for older people to improve quality of life, creating 60,000 jobs; reducing poverty massively by introducing a Citizen's income.

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This post is the third of a series giving positive reasons to vote Green in the run up to this years local elections and general election.